


Friends In Strange Places

by UniquelyQueer_67



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Affection, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Declarations Of Love, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Forced Bonding, Gentle Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Pining, Protectiveness, Public Display of Affection, Reunions, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Touching, Touchy-Feely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23270836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniquelyQueer_67/pseuds/UniquelyQueer_67
Summary: Commander Gren gets to know his cellmate, and makes a lifelong friend along the way.ORGren annoys Runaan into telling him all about his life and his family, and then helps him return to his husband and semi-adopted daughter.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Gren & Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 304





	1. Gren's Story

**Author's Note:**

> My first tdp fic, unbeta'd, written at night. There are so many characters, please let me live.

> _"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not."_ \- Uncle Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Commander Gren had no idea what his fellow prisoner looked like. Only that he was an elf, most likely one of the moonshadow elves sent to assassinate King Harrow, and that Lord Viren often visited his cell. Though he could tell from the shouts and glowing often emanating from under the large wooden door, that the Dark Mage didn't go in there for pleasant chats.

After a feeble attempt at getting some food that wasn't completely tasteless from Lord Viren, Gren found himself alone once more.

Well, alone, save for the moonshadow elf slowly wasting away in the next room, only a door to separate them.

"Um," Commander Gren began, "are you okay in there?" He tried to make his voice carry so the elf could hear him. He got no response.

"Mr elf… Sir?” He tried again. Still nothing.

"Well, of course you're not ok, you're in a dungeon in a foreign land being interrogated by a very grumpy Dark Mage… But maybe I could offer you some advice!” Gren exclaimed, "Here's how I see it: why think of myself as chained _down_ , when I could be chained _up_!"

Then, he heard what could've been a grunt of acknowledgement from his neighbor. Gren took this as an encouragement to keep going.

"I wonder what you do back in Xadia. Besides being an assassin, I mean, obviously you train but- well I just thought maybe you'd do other things. Like, I'm not a commander _all the time,_ I also do basket weaving as a hobby! You should've seen the one I gave General Amaya for her last birthday - General Amaya is my CO, and also a very dear friend. She was Harrow's sister-in-law, aunt to the young princes. I mostly translate for her, you see she was born deaf, so she uses sign language. Unfortunately most people in Katolis don't know sign language, hence my job as translator. Though her and I have discussed offering free lessons to the local children in the past, we just never have the time… but back to the baskets! Although a calming craft, it's not as easy as most think! One must use the perfect amount of water with the perfect type of reed to make a properly sturdy basket, and-”

"Are you incapable of _shutting up_!" Gren heard the assassin growl. The human frowned.

"Well, if you spoke to me more, maybe I wouldn't feel the need to fill the silence so much! I figured since we're both locked in here for the foreseeable future, the company might be good for us. Live a little!” Gren replied, aiming for assertiveness, like the tone he used when translating a particularly stern order from Amaya.

The elf scoffed, "Live? You haven't met many moonshadow elves have you? I'm already dead."

"I don't often get the opportunity to sit and talk with elves, no… Usually I'm fighting them. And what do you mean 'already dead'? You seem very much alive to me." Asked Gren.

"It's a moonshadow philosophy. You accept that you are already dead, so you will not fear death when it inevitably comes for you." Said the elf, on a resigned sigh.

"Well that's morbid," said Gren, "and pessimistic! How do you know you're going to die here? For all we know we could both be rescued tomorrow!"

"It's called being realistic."

There was a pause, in which Gren tried to think of what to say next, and the elf seemed to appreciate the silence.

"My name is Commander Gren," He decided to introduce himself, "and I'd very much like to help you forget about your impending doom."

Then the elf seemed to give in.

"Runaan," he sighed, "my name is Runaan. And yes, I train, back home. But I also teach. Mostly children and young elves."

"Really!? I never pegged you as good with children - though I don't know you all that well so I don't really have you pegged as anything really. Do you have a favourite student?" Gren rambled, smiling as he pictured this hardened warrior wrestling a swarm of little elves into battle stances.

"I do. Though...I may be slightly biased." Runaan admitted.

"Do tell, oh teacher of toddlers!" 

"Her name is Rayla. She's one of my finest students, and she's like a daughter to me. You see, her parents were my closest friends, so I've known her since she was small. Her mother and father were members of the Dragon Guard, charged with protecting the Dragon King and Queen, so they'd often spend months at a time at the top of the Storm Spire. It was during those times I would babysit Rayla, teach her and bond with her. I love her dearly, but-" the elf cut himself off. His voice had sounded vulnerable and small. And Gren felt for him.

"But?"

"I said things to her... Awful things, cruel things. And I don't want her last memories of me to be my disappointment in her. I was angry that she had failed her mission as an assassin. But she always was just like her parents, quicker to protect life than to take it. She was never meant to be an assassin, she should've been on the Dragon Guard like them," Runaan spilled to Gren, "it's a long story, you don't want to hear it…"

"Yes," said the human, "I do."

And so Runaan told Gren about the banishment of Rayla's parents, and of her hesitance to kill the soldier Gren knew to be Marcos. Of the reason for Harrow's assassination and of Runaan's arm binding. Finally, of how Rayla found the egg of the Dragon Prince and was most likely, right now, taking it to Xadia.

"Though I doubt those human princes want much to do with her after what I did to their father…" the elf confessed.

"He was my king too," said Gren, "and it seems something precious was taken from your people. I hate to admit it but maybe you were justified? And I know Callum and Ezran. They're smart boys, and they're kind too. They'll want peace between our respective people, I'm sure of it."

"Perhaps," said Runaan, "but your king...it was vengeance…do you know what he said as he lay dying in his chambers? What your king spoke about?"

"What?"

"His children. Of how much he loved them, how they were good and kind like you said," Runaan paused for a long time, "I'm sorry." He said.

"It's ok," Said Gren, "tell me more about your home in Xadia. Did you babysit this Rayla girl by yourself? Or did you have help? A _special someone_ maybe?”

Runaan scoffed at the human's tone. But he still answered.

"There is, someone…"

"Who?"

"Ethari. My husband."

"Aaaww," Gren cooed, "what's he like? Is he an assassin too?"

"No," Runaan explained, "he's a Smith, and a carpenter- and I suppose a jeweller…"

"I get the idea, he works with his hands. Gotcha." Said Gren.

"Right," said the elf, "well, before an elf assassin leaves on a mission, there's a farewell ritual of sorts. A flower is enchanted and placed in a pool, one for each assassin, so that as long as the elf lives, the flower floats on the surface of the water. If they die, it sinks. I imagine mine must be wavering right about now…"

"Go on." Gren prompted his fellow prisoner.

"Well, when Ethari enchanted my flower, he said to me 'My heart goes out with this one' and I promised I would return his heart to him, whatever the cost. I fear, where I am now, that I'll never fulfill that promise…"

"You really love him, don't you?" There was silence, for a while.

"His love is with me, even when the moon is not."

Gren felt his heartstrings tug at Runaan's tale. He never really knew how to feel about elves in the past, but he was always told by his superiors that they were bloodthirsty monsters. But Runaan, he was just a man, with a home, missing his protégé, and longing for his husband. He had made mistakes, he had regrets, but he had a family, and he felt a sense of duty to his people and to the Dragons.

Just as Gren had a duty to his king, and to Amaya.

"Runaan," he said, "I promise, if I get out of here- _when_ I get out of here. I will do everything in my power to make sure you see your family again."

"I-" the elf began, "I don't know what to say… _thank you_ , Commander Gren. I never thought a human would understand-"

"We all have people we love, Runaan. Now if you're not gonna eat, the least you could do is get some sleep, before Viren comes back to ruin your day again. And remember," he added with a cheerful flourish, "you're not chained _down,_ you're chained _up_!"

* * *

He was freed eventually, with the elf's screams still echoing in his head.

It wasn't going before he was reunited with Amaya, and met _her_ new elf friend (who apparently found the general 'cute' but was still in denial. Gren was happy for them). 

Then they battled the armies of four kingdoms, soldiers made into monsters, and they won!

Gren _also_ met the Dragon Queen Zubeia! And her little baby Azymondias, who was unbearably cute.

Callum was talking to his aunt just then, and Gren was next to her, at the ready, as was his job. Though the prince could understand her fine.

 _I'm so proud of you, Callum_ , she signed. The prince's face lit up, _and is that your elf friend?_ She pointed at the young elf talking to Ezran on the steps to Zubeia's chamber. Callum motioned for them to stay put, and ran over to the girl. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her over to where Amaya and Gren were standing.

"Amaya, this," he said, pointing to the girl, "is my girlfriend. Rayla."

Amaya's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

 _Girlfriend?_ She signed at Callum, who then went to explain.

But just then something clicked in Gren's head.

" _Rayla!?_ " He yelled over the prince, who stopped talking and looked over at the commander. Amaya followed suit, obviously wondering what she missed.

 _General, remember that elf from the dungeon I told you about, Runaan?_ He hurriedly signed to the general. She nodded, _Well_ , Gren continued, _remember the protégé he told me about?_ She nodded again, _he told me her name was Rayla._

Again, Amaya's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she gaped slightly. 

_You're not serious_ , she signed.

"I'm dead serious, General." He said out loud.

Callum had only picked up on half of Gren's rapid signing, so he gave Gren a perplexed look.

"Okay, what in Xadia are you lot on about?" Asked the elf in a thick, and impatient, accent.

Amaya was facing the elf when she said this, so she elbowed Gren, prompting him to explain.

"Well, uh," he began, "you see, I was imprisoned in the dungeons below Katolis castle for a while, and the only other prisoner was someone I'd never seen before. Viren seemed to enjoy yelling at him and casting spells… Anyway! He and I eventually started talking about each other, and he told me about how some friends of his had a daughter that he considered like his own, and it was really touching just how much he loves his family, and-” Amaya stepped on his foot, "ow! Sorry. Um, that girl is you, Rayla. That prisoner was an elf, umm I can't remember his name… I know his husband's name is Ethari…"

" _Runaan_!" The girl exclaimed, before rushing over and giving Gren a tight hug, "you spoke to him!"

"Yes," said the commander, "but I also have some not-good news…" the girl's face fell, "it was horrible. One day while Viren was interrogating him, I-I heard screaming. Lots of screaming, and yelling, just sounds of pain and fear… They kept on going until they suddenly stopped. Like he'd just disappeared…"

Then the girl began to weep in his arms, and Gren wasn't sure what to do, so he just held her, and pet her white hair.

"There, there," he said, "it's okay."

"How can it be ok!” yelled the girl, "Runaan is _dead_ ! He's like family… He _was_ family, and now he's _dead_!"

Callum rested his hand on the girl's shoulder, and she slipped out of Gren's grasp and into his. She cried, into his red scarf.

"Wait," said Gren, "what do you mean he's dead? It's this like that moonshadow philosophy he told me about?"

The girl sniffed, and looked at Gren. "No! He's really dead, you just told us Viren killed him!"

"No he didn't. I must not have been clear enough," Gren tried to explain himself, "when the screams stopped, Viren left the cell and talked to me. He said 'I always seem to capture the same expression; defiance, giving way to absolute fear", then he showed me a gold coin. In the coin I could see the face of your friend! I never knew what Runaan looked like but it must've been him. He looked scared, and he was hammering against the coin. I think Viren somehow trapped him on there…" Rayla's eyes widened, "Then he put the coin in a pouch full of other coins, that he always keeps with him."

"So he's alive?" Asked the prince. Gren nodded.

"He must be."

At this point the Sunfire elf, Janai (according to Amaya), had joined the four and listened in on the conversation.

"Did you say a bag of coins?" She said.

Gren nodded. Then Janai reached behind her, and pulled from her belt a velvet drawstring bag, full of jangling coins, "During the purification ritual at Lux Aurea, one's possessions are confiscated, and they're clothed in a white robe. This was taken from the Dark Mage."

Amaya frowned at the bag, and signed.

"Why do you have it with you?" Gren translated.

"I thought it contained Katolis currency. Thought I might need it at some point." She explained. Amaya shook her head in disappointment.

 _Thief_ , she signed. Janai understood her though, and smiled softly at the general.

Rayla ran over to Janai, who handed her the bag. She rooted around in the bag for a bit; and with a gasp, she grabbed three coins, withdrawing then from the bag.

"Callum look!” she exclaimed, shoving her open palm in the prince's face. He gaped.

"Your parents!”

They took the coins to the only archmage in the room, Ibis.

"This spell is tricky," he said, "everyone stand back."

He drew a series of complex runes then, and sent them toward the coins sitting in the ground, with a draconic trigger phrase. 

Suddenly, light burst from the three coins. First, a woman appeared on the floor, closely followed by a man.

"Mum, dad!" Cried Rayla, throwing herself at them. The two embraced her as they all wept with joy.

Then, another man came into view, who collapsed to the ground with a groan. Rayla rushed to his side.

He was missing a horn, he was covered in bruises, and his left arm was purple from the binding around his bicep. Gren assumed that was the binding that would cut off his arm if Ezran still lived. But the boy lived, and Rayla held no such burden, despite Gren knowing that she'd had a binding just like Runaan's. 

Suddenly, Zym came bounding over, followed by Ezran and Bait. The dragonling sniffed at Runaan, he obviously recognised the scent of Rayla on him, because then he started licking the elf's face. He protested.

But then, Zym spotted the binding, and sniffed angrily at it, before catching it between his teeth.

"Little one," said Runaan, "I'm afraid you can't get it off…"

"Just wait, Runaan." Said Rayla with a wink. Then, with a final tug, Zym ripped off the binding, and the dark purple drained from the elf's arm. His circulation was returned to normal and he had control of his arm once again!

Once the assassin had been patched up and given some new clothes, he sat beside his protégé and the prince, watching the boy perform a Wind Breath spell.

Gren approached the three.

"Perhaps," he began, and Runaan looked up to him, "you owe me an apology, Mr Elf."

"What for?”

"For your pessimism in the dungeons. And you're welcome by the way, I told you I'd do everything in my power to make sure you see your family again." Said Gren. Runaan smiled.

"It is thanks to you," said the elf, "that I will be able to keep my promise to my husband. Thank you, Gren."

The commander smiled, he loved a happy ending.


	2. Runaan's Ending

They passed through the Silvergrove on their way back to Katolis, to return Ezran to his throne, and many soldiers and officials to their homes. Runaan was slightly nervous to see Ethari again, especially after everything he'd gone through over the past few months. Was he still the same man? If not, would his husband still love him? He knew the worries were silly, but, were they?

He was eternally grateful to the human commander for… Well, everything. But was it all for nought?

  
  


He swallowed thickly, and knocked on the sturdy wooden door.

"Rayla, is that you?" He heard the familiar voice from inside. The beautifully familiar voice, "Hold on, I'm coming." Then footsteps approaching the door, then a hand on the door, then the door opening.

"I got your letters, I'm so proud of you! And I wonder what your surprise-" Ethari stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Runaan. The assassin cleared his throat.

"Hello, Ethari."

The craftsman burst into floods of tears and flung his arms around his husband. Despite it all, Runaan held on for dear life, savouring the touch of the man he loved.

"Ethari, so much had happened," he began, "I've been through so much and I would understand if you needed time, or-”

"Will you shut up you daft drama queen, I'm trying to hug you!" Ethari scolded him, his accent getting stronger with his anger, just like it always did. The craftsman pulled away briefly. He looked into his love's sleepless eyes, and up, to his horns, "Runaan! What did they  _ do _ to you?" He ran gentle fingers along what remained of Runaan's left horn. He sighed into the touch, and leant forward so their foreheads touched.

"I said I would return your heart to you." He whispered into his husband's lips.

"You kept your promise." Came the reply.

Runaan cupped Ethari's cheek in his palm, like he did the night he left, and kissed him. 

It was warm and soft, and wet from Ethari and Runaan's tears. They held onto each other, tightly.

Eventually they separated enough for Runaan to whisper, "I love you."

And for Ethari to reply "Even when the moon is set."

People always said they were just as in love as the day they got married.

Runaan had nothing to add to this statement, it was the truth.

Although after a while Rayla had to separate the two of them, muttering about them coming up for air long enough to greet some old friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my best, it got away from me. Now, eat up, you dogs (kidding I love you guys)
> 
> Fluff, glorious fluff  
> REUNITE THE ELF HUSBANDS, 2020!!!!


End file.
